Ice cube tray



May 13, 1969 G. M. EWERS ICE CUBE TRAY Filed NOV. 15, 1966 FILL LINEWITNESSES INV'ENTOR Gerald M. Ewers ATTOR 3,443,785 ICE CUBE TRAY GeraldM. Ewers, Columbus, Ohio, assignor to Westing.

house Electric Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation ofPennsylvania Filed Nov. 15, 1966, Ser. No. 594,540 Int. Cl. B29c 7/00;B28b 7/24 US. Cl. 249-53 Claims This invention relates to improvementsin ice cube tray structure.

An object of the invention is the provision of an ice cube tray andcover structure which facilitates filling the tray and transporting itto the cube freezing location without spillage.

A structure according to the invention includes a flexible lower traysection of the general type in which the tray is racked to release thecubes, and an overlying partial cover section sealingly joined to thetray upper perimetric rim along three sides. The open fourth side servesas a mouth to admit water to the pocket defined between the cover andtray sections when the structure is held in a generally uprightposition. The proper water quantity is indicated by a level mark locatedto indicate that quantity which the cube molds can properly accommodatewhen the structure is returned to a horizontal position for freezing,and the water distributes itself to the molds. After the cubes arefrozen, they are released by racking the tray section. The cubes thenmay be dumped out of the mouth of the pocket formed between the coverand tray sections. To render the cover section more flexible and reduceresistance to this racking, section, pleat means or accordion foldportions are preferably provided in the side walls of the cover section.

The invention will be described in connection with one currentlypreferred embodiment illustrated in the drawing wherein:

FIGURE 1 is an isometric view of the structure in an upright position inwhich it is adapted to be filled;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the structure in a horizontal positionwhich it occupies during the freezing period; and

FIG. 3 is a top view of the structure in its horizontal position.

The structure includes two main parts, the tray or lower section 10, andthe cover or upper section 12. The general structure of the tray sectionis conventional in most respects and includes a number of upwardly-open,tapered, cube molds 14 separated from each other by longitudinal dividerwalls 16, and transverse divider walls 18. The upper edges of thedivider walls 16 and 18 are notched as at 20 to provide for distributionof the water to the molds. The cube molds as a whole are encompassed bya perimetric rim 22 on the upper face of the tray section.

The upper section includes a top wall 24, opposite side walls 26 and 28,and end wall 30. The lower edges of the side walls and end wall areintegrally joined to the bottom section perimetric rim 22 so that thepocket formed between the sections does not leak water when thestructure is held upright.

The currently preferred construction includes longitudinally extendingpleats 32 and 34 in the side walls 26 and 28, respectively, and a pleat36 in the end wall 30, of the upper section. These pleats enhance theflexibility of the cover section so that the tray section 10 may be moreeasily racked to release the ice cubes from their molds. It will beappreciated of course that with sufficiently flexible material formingthe cover section, the pleats may be omitted.

The top of the cover section as shown in FIGURE 1 is open to form themouth through which water is adatent O mitted when the structure is heldin a generally upright position for filling. Indicia such as the fillline legend and mark 40 is provided on the cover section top wall 24 toaid the user during filling. Thus it is preferable that the water levelin the pocket be observable through at least the tray or cover sectionduring filling. A polyethylene plastic which is sufliciently pervious tolight, and is sufficiently flexible to permit release of the cubes byracking, may conveniently be used.

It will be appreciated from the foregoing that in use the structure isheld in a generally upright position as shown in FIGURE 1 for fillingand transport to the freezing compartment, and is then turned down toits normal horizontal position for distributing the water to the moldsfor freezing. After the cubes are frozen, the tray is removed and rackedby twisting opposite corners to release the cubes.

The cover section not only functions to prevent spillage of water duringtransport and filling, but also prevents those cubes underlying the topwall 24 from popping out beyond the confines of the tray during racking.The cover may also serve as a collecting space for the ice cubes afterthey have been released from their molds and gives some directionalcontrol of the ice cubes during dumping.

It will be appreciated that the cover section is preferably of greaterdepth than the depth of the tray section to insure that the cubes may bereadily dumped out of the pocket after they are released from theirindividual molds. Ordinarily any wedging of an ice cube between the traysection and the cover section in a diagonal orientation may be readilyreleased by flexing the cover.

The structure may be made by molding the sections separately and thenjoining the edges of the cover section with the rim of the tray section;or the entire structure may be molded as an integral unit in a flowmolding operation for example.

I claim as my invention:

1. An ice tray comprising:

a cube-freezing lower section having a series of upwardly-open cubemolds encompassed by an upperface perimetric rim, said lower sectionbeing constructed of a material sufiiciently flexible to permit manualracking for releasing frozen cubes from said cube molds; and

an upper section, also of a flexible material, including three closedwall sides, a fourth open-face side, and a top wall overlying only apart of said lower section, said three walls having their lower edgesconnecting said perimetric rim in a water sealing relation, saidopen-face side forming the mouth of an upwardly-open, generallypocket-shaped vessel for receiving water formed between said upper andlower sections when said tray is positioned in a gen erally uprightposition for filling, said mouth overlying the mold area of said lowersection. I

2. A tray according to claim 1 wherein:

said top section includes pleat means for reducing resistance to saidracking.

3. A tray according to claim 2 wherein:

said pleat means extend lengthwise along said three side walls.

4. A tray according to claim 1 wherein:

said flexible material comprises a plastic material sufficientlypervious to light to permit viewing a Water level therethrough; and

marking means is provided on said tray to indicate a proper fill levelin said vessel in said upright position.

5. A tray according to claim 1 wherein:

said upper section has a depth in excess of the depth of said lowersection to reduce the likelihood of 3 4 frozen cubes becoming wedged inthe space between 3,129,568 4/ 1964 Knepper 249130 X said lower andupper section after their release. 3,306,567 2/ 1967 Frei 249-127 XReferences Cited J. HOWARD FLINT, 111., Primary Examiner.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 Us. CL XR 699,856 5/1902 StHtZ 249--1 249121,127, 129

2,591,261 4/1952 Holahan 2491 19 X

1. AN ICE TRAY COMPRISING: A CUBE-FREEZING LOWER SECTION HAVING A SERIESOF UPWARDLY-OPEN CUBE MOLDS ENCOMPASSED BY AN UPPERFACE PERIMETRIC RIM,SAID LOWER SECTION BEING CONSTRUCTED OF A MATERIAL SUFFICIENTLY FLEXIBLETO PERMIT MANUAL RACKING FOR RELEASING FROZEN CUBES FROM SAID CUBEMOLDS; AND AN UPPER SECTION, ALSO OF A FLEXIBLE MATERIAL, INCLUDINGTHREE CLOSED WALL SIDES, A FOURTH OPEN-FACE SIDE, AND A TOP WALLOVERLYING ONLY A PART OF SAID LOWER SECTION, SAID THREE WALLS HAVINGTHEIR LOWER EDGES CONNECTING SAID PERIMETRIC RIM IN A WATER SEALINGRELATION, SAID OPEN-FACE SIDE FORMING THE MOUTH OF AN UPWARDLY-OPEN,GENERALLY POCKET-SHAPED VESSEL FOR RECEIVING WATER FORMED BETWEEN SAIDUPPER AND LOWER SECTIONS WHEN SAID TRAY IS POSITIONED IN A GENERALLYUPRIGHT POSITION FOR FILLING, SAID MOUTH OVERLYING THE MOLD AREA OF SAIDLOWER SECTION.